第六十五章
淳樸治國
原文
英譯
Rule the State with Honesty and Simplicity
In ancient times,
people who did things according to the laws of nature taught the people
to be honest and simple rather than cunning and deceitful.
It is difficult for the ruler to govern the people
because the latter use too much ingenuity.
Therefore,
governing the state with ingenuity is bound to endanger the state,
whereas governing the state without ingenuity is the well-being of the state.
Understanding the two models of governing the state
falls in line with the divine law.
Frequent thinking of the two models is known as the mysterious virtue,
which is profound and endless,
and it is often different from something concrete,
so that it can be well adapted to nature.
說明
1. “古之善為道者，非以明民，将以愚之”的英譯
有許多人對老子的“愚民”有些誤解，是以在英文譯文中也可見一斑，比如Arthur Waley将“古之善為道者，非以明民，将以愚之”譯為“In the days of old, those who practiced Tao with success did not, by means of it, enlighten the people, but on the contrary sought to make them ignorant.”，即“古代那些善用道者不用道去開化群眾，而是努力使群眾無知。”。
許淵沖将此句譯作“The ancients who followed the divine law would not enlighten the public mind, but simplify it.”，即“古代那些善用道的人，不是去啟迪開化群眾，而是使他們變的簡單。”。
辜正坤譯作“Those ancient men of the profound Tao did not use Tao to enlighten the people, but used Tao to make them simple.”，即“古代有道的人不以道開化人民，而是用道使人民淳樸簡單”。
我們的譯文“In ancient times, people who did things according to the laws of nature taught the people to be honest and simple rather than cunning and deceitful.”即“古代善于按自然規律做事的人，不是教導人民智巧僞詐，而是引導人民淳厚樸實。”
2. “與物反矣，然後乃至大順”的英譯
我們對這句的了解是“和具體的事物往往不一樣，這樣才能極大地順乎于自然。”英文譯作“it is often different from something concrete, so that it can be well adapted to nature.”。許淵沖譯作“help all things develop naturally without his interference.”，即“幫助所有事物自然發展，不加幹涉”，而“與物反矣”并沒有直譯出來。辜正坤譯作“Running counter to concrete things. At their extremes there is the most complete conformity to nature.”，即“與具體事物相反，在其盡頭與自然完全同一”。Arthur Waley譯作“That can follow things back---all the way back to the Great Concordance.”，即“跟随事物，一直回到完全的調和、同一”。